Method of making shoe soles



Oct. 22, 1929. F. w. MILLAY 1,732,765

METHOD OF MAKING SHOE SOLES Filed Oct. 16. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1?".2 l f1 1 & lg l1! 1".5. 8 I I ii I: H

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Izwenl'or: Frederick 1 F. w. MILLAY 1,132,165

METHOD OF MAKING SHOE SOLES Filed 001:. 16. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiwcnior: I'rcdcnbk Patented Oct. 22, 1929 NITE STATES PA-TNT rres METHOD OF MAKING SHOE SOLES Application filed. October 16, 1928. Serial No. 312,864.

This invention relates to methods of making shoe soles and particularly soles to be used in the manufacture otMcKay sewed shoes having high wooden heels, the object of the invention being to provide a sole without transverse cuts tending to weaken the same and to which the heel may be more iirmly secured without danger of the flap of the sole which extends over the front of the heel being cracked when the shoe is in use.

This method is carried out by the instrumentalities and means illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

For the purpose of illustrating the inven- 1 tion, one preferred means for carrying out the method is illustrated in the drawings, this means having been found to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumen- 2o talities used may be varied, and the invention is not limited to the precise form and arrange ment of said instrumentalities as herein shown and described except as required by the scope oi the appended claims.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a plan of a shoe sole made in accordance with the method embodying the present invention.

.tigure 2 represents a side elevation of so same. a

Figure 3 represents a side elevation of a templet and clamp plate for holding a piece of sole leather during the first rounding off operation in forming a sole.

liiguretrepresents an elevation ofa smaller templet and clamp holding the sole during the second rounding ofl operation and showing the sole flap bent over upon the fore part.

Figure 5 represents an inverted plan of the completed sole with the flap thereof bent over the fore part.

Figure 6 represents an elevation of same.

Figure 7 represents a plan of the templet sed during the first rounding oft operation, and

Figure 8 represents a plan of the templet used in the second rounding oft" operation and showing the clamp plate therefor superimposed thereon.

Similar characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings The soles now manufactured for use in McKay sewed shoes having high wooden heels are unsatisfactory in many cipal obj cction being that transverse incisions are required in the body or the sole which greatly weakens the same.

U11 account of these incisions which sometimes almost sever the sole, the sole often as cracks at this point and when the shoe is used the flap oi the sole extending over the front of the wooden heel also cracks.

This not only mars the looksoit the shoe but also provides a passage through which as water may leak into the interior Of the shoe.

Moreover, in the present way of making such soles much hand labor is required which makes the shoes expensive to manufacture and increases the price of the finished product.

lln order to reduce the cost of labor it is essential that the hand work should be reduced to minimum and the present invention accomplishes this result.

In carrying out the improved method two templets are used which not only form patterns to be used when rounding off the soles but are also used as outer clamp plates to hold the soles when other operations are beso ing performed thereon.

These templets are in different sizes with varying shapes and two of these templets are required in the manufacture of each size of solo, each templet having a clamp plate as to coact therewith.

The templet 10 is used as a base and its outline is the shape that the sole must be cut in the first operation thereon.

A piece of dampened leather 11 of suitable so I thickness is superimposed upon the templet 10 and then a clamp plate 12 is placed upon the leather and the leather 11 and both plates 10, 12 are clamped together in any well known manner.

The clamp plate 12 follows substantially the outline of templet 10 but is somewhat smaller, the edge of plate 12 at every point being slightly within the edge of templet 10.

\Vhen the leather 11 is thus clamped beways, one prin- 55 tween templet 10 and clamp plate 12, it is placed upon a suitable machine and said leather is rounded off to the desired outline conforming to the outline of templet 10.

The rounding off having been completed the edge of the leather 11 is slit as at 13, thls slit 13 being much nearer the bottom of the sole than the top thereof, as shown in Fig. 2.

About one third of the heel part is entirely divided leaving a thin flap 14 and a thicker heel part 14 in the body portion of the sole.

WVhen the slit 13 is made in the sole a stitch channel 15 is formed therein at the same time.

The sole in a very pliable condition is then placed upon the templet 18 and the flap 14 is turned over upon the body portion as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. I

Then the smaller clamp plate 19 is superimposedupon the sole and both plates 18, 19

and sole are clamped together in any well known manner and placed in the rounding ofi' machine which will trim off the edges of the part 14 of the body portion of the sole so Y that its edge will conform to the outline of the templet 18.

. This makes the heel portion 14* of the body considerably shorter than the flap portion 14.

The inner'face of the heel portion 14 from thepoi-nt 16 is then chamfered off around the heel end leaving feather edges 17 at the sides ofthe sole and a feather edge around the heel seat, the feather edges 17 and 20 being formed in one continuous operation.

This-chamfering off of the heel portion 14 makes an excellent seat for the wooden heel which is secured thereto inthe usual manner, andthe flap 14 is of sufficient length to perm-it it to extend over the entire front face of the wooden heel and over the tread end thereof.. 7

Whenthe: flap 14 is secured to said front face the projecting edges thereof are trimmed off by hand as usual.

The templets 10, 18 may have separate clamp plates 12, 19 or if desired the clamp plate 19- maybe used with both templets or patterns 10, 18.

The templet 18 is the same width at the fore part as the fore part of the sole but is considerably wider at the shank 21 so that the knife of the rounding off machine cannot cut intothe edge of the sole or the flap 14 at these points, the second rounding off operation being entirely confined to the heel part 14" of the body of'the sole.

All of these operations may be performed on the usual machines installed in all shoe factories and no special machinery is required.

Moreover, all hand work is entirely eliminated which materially reduces the cost of manufacture.

Inasmuch as in manufacturing the soles in the manner just 'describecLno incisions are required in the body portion of the sole, a stronger sole is produced which will not break or crack at any point either when the shoe is being manufactured or when the completed shoe is worn.

When the sole is completed in accordance with this new method it is of the desired shape ready for use and consequently there is no trimming required by knives which would be liable to cut the uppers.

In the present practice the damage to the shoes is considerable and this requires much repairing of the shoes before they can be shipped, thus entailing considerable additional expense to the manufacturer and increasing the cost of the shoes.

Furthermore, such repaired shoes are imperfect and unsatisfactory both in regards to looks and wear.

It is believed that the invention and many advantages thereof will be understood readily without further description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of solo leather to a templet and trimming said leather to form a sole having the outline of said templet, forming a slit in the edge of the sole with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part and clamping it thereto, and then rounding off the heel part of the body of said sole to make said body of the required length to fit a shoe.

2. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a templet and trimming said leather to form a sole having the outline of said tcmplet. forming a slit in the edge of the sole with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part and clamping it thereto, then rounding off the heel part of the body of said sole to make said body of the required length to fit a shoe, and then forming a feather edge on said body along the sides of the shank and heel portion.

3. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a templet and trimming said leather to form a sole having the outline of said tcmplet, forming a slit in the edge of the sole with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part and clamping it thereto, then rounding off the heel part of the body of said sole to make said body of the required length to fit a shoe, and then in one continuous operation chamfering off the lower face of the heel part to form a feather edge on the grain side of the sole.

4. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a templet and trimming said leather to form a sole having the outline of said templet, forming a slit in the edge of the sole with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel. part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part and clamping it to another teinplet, and then rounding oil the heel part of the body of said sole to make said body of the required length to fit a shoe.

The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a teinplet and trimming said leather to form a sole having the outline of said templet, forming a slit in the edge of the sole with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the forepart and clamping it to another templet with a shank portion much wider than the shank of the sole and narrower and shorter than the heel portion of said sole at the completion of the first trimming operation, and then rounding off the heel part of the body of said sole to make said body of the required length to fit a shoe.

(5. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a templet and rounding oi the same to form a sole conforming in outline to said templet, forming a slit in the edge of the fore part with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dii-iding the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part, clan'iping said sole with its flap thus folded to another temglet having its heel end narrower and shorter than the first mentioned templet, and then rounding off the heel end of the body to conform to the outline of said second templet.

*i'. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a templet and rounding off the same to form a sole conforming in outline to said templet, forming a slit in the edge of the fore part with a stitch channel at the iner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part, clamping said sole with its flap thus folded to another templet having its heel end narrower and shorter than the first mentioned templet, then rounding off the heel end of the body to conform to the outline of said second templet, and then forming a feather edge on the grain side of the body along the sides of the shank and heel portion.

8. The method of making shoe soles which consists in clamping a piece of sole leather to a teinplet and rounding off the same to form a sole conforming in outline to said templet, forn'iing a slit in the edge of the fore part with a stitch channel at the inner end thereof, dividing the heel part of the sole to form a thin flap, folding said flap over the fore part,

-" clamping said sole with its flan thus folded FREDERICK W. MILLAY. 

